"The objective of the reformists is not only to collect votes but to serve the country. Our country is facing great threats and unfortunately there are serious concerns," Khatami was quoted as saying by several reformist papers.

The former president addressed a number of reformist leaders on Thursday calling on them to consolidate their efforts ahead of the parliamentary elections on March 14.

Khatami's embattled followers lost the previous parliament elections to the conservatives in 2004. The reformist candidates were mostly disqualified and others failed to mobilise their voters.

"We can not leave the country's facilities to those who want to use them anyway they want without supervision," Khatami said in a rare criticism of his successor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardliner.

"I am not saying there is an ill-intention. But there is ignorance and lack of expertise," Khatami said.

Many economists in Iran have accused Ahmadinejad of stoking inflation by ploughing windfall revenues from high oil prices into local infrastructure projects promised on provincial visits.

While lashing out at the nuclear policies of the previous reformist government for being too soft with the West, Ahmadinejad has played down threats against Iran over its controversial atomic programme.

Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Saturday after a US visit that "all options are on the table" to halt Iran's nuclear drive, which Israel considers a threat to its existence.

Israel and the United States accuse Iran of pursuing atomic weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear energy programme, charges which Tehran has repeatedly denied.

Tehran has already been slapped by two sets of UN sanctions over its refusal to suspend the programme.

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